ANAS Sarwar has been accused of being “shamefully silent” after Labour MPs have demanded a change of course by the party leadership after a poor result at the English local elections.
Labour lost 188 councillors, leaving them with just 99 seats as the right-wing populist party Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats made huge gains.
There were reports of voters across England being particularly angered by UK Government decisions to cut PIP, the Winter Fuel Payment and put up National Insurance employer contributions.
However, in the wake of a heavy defeat in the English local election, Keir Starmer did not suggest there would be a change of course for Labour, leading to veteran figures within the party to voice their frustrations.
Diane Abbott said online that Starmer doesn’t “seem to understand that it is our current direction that is the problem”.
Meanwhile, Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman added, “whatever ‘plan’ leadership is following is miles off the mark”.
SNP MP Pete Wishart has accused Sarwar of talking tough during the General Election campaign when he said he would hold his boss to account, but has instead backed the Prime Minister's approach to welfare reforms and ending the Winter Fuel Payment.
Wishart (below) said: “When other senior Labour figures are lining up to call out the Starmer government’s broken promises and urging him to change course after this week’s electoral defeat, unsurprisingly Anas Sarwar is choosing to maintain a shameful silence.
“All the Scottish Labour leader’s tough talk before the election has vanished into thin air – when times get tough for Labour, Anas Sarwar goes into hiding.
“That silence tells us something significant - if Anas Sarwar can’t even be trusted to stand up to Keir Starmer, he’ll never be able to stand up for Scotland.”
It was reported earlier this week that Labour’s Welsh First Minister had given her own MPs a firm dressing down for “not standing up for Wales” in Westminster,
It was revealed that on Monday night, Eluned Morgan (below) held an online meeting with Welsh Labour MPs where the First Minister dressed down the parliamentarians for backing a number of decisions made by the UK Government, including cuts to welfare and tax increases.
“Unlike the Labour First Minister of Wales, the Scottish Labour leader won’t even stand up to his own Scottish Labour MPs,” Wishart said.
“Instead of standing up for Scotland, those MPs have voted to cut support for the disabled, have voted to keep the cruel two child cap and have removed winter fuel payments from Scottish pensioners.
“Those same Scottish Labour MPs spend most of their time attacking the Scottish Parliament, instead of fighting our country’s case.
“If Anas Sarwar and his MPs are still so silent on those Starmer policies, Scotland will come to one of two conclusions - they are either too weak to speak out, or worse, they actually support them. It’s time for them to be honest which is it.
“The brutal reality is that Keir Starmer and Labour promised 'change' but instead they have delivered a series of broken promises that have betrayed the hopes and expectations of voters. Scotland can see that, even if Anas Sarwar can’t or won’t.”
A Scottish Labour spokesperson: “Yesterday’s results made it clear that the Labour government needs to go further and faster to deliver change for working people across the UK, and it will do just that.
“Labour is listening to voters and has taken responsibility for improving things while the SNP does nothing but deflect.
“The SNP is responsible for the chaos in Scotland’s NHS, the decline of our schools, and the sorry state of our local services.
“The SNP is desperate to talk about elections elsewhere in the country because it has no vision for Scotland’s future and an indefensible record in government - but Scottish Labour can deliver a new direction next year.”
